When to perform meditation
Question
hi dhananjay,
hope you are doing well i got some doubts while reading your posts,
1.can we meditate in any time of the day apart from 2 times yogic practice.
2.in one of your posts you said to face east or north while yogic practice and the place should be clean and only used for practice, at my home we have small temple of goddess and i can sit west only because if i face north or east i have the idols and photos facing my back so please suggest me is it ok to face west for the yogic practice.
thanks for your help to all aspirants like me,
Ganapathi.
Answer
1. Yes, meditation can be and should be performed as often as possible. There is not such a time of the day or night when one cannot meditate. Every minute of this life is meant for meditation on the Supreme. Merging ones mind and self into the Supreme (Almighty) is meditation. For this, one should give up all thoughts, make the mind calm and try to merge the mind into the Almighty, thinking of nothing else. He should then think I no longer exist but have become one with HIM and maintain a state of Shunya (void or emptiness) for as long as possible. When one gets established in this process after many years of unbroken Brahmacharya with deep love for God, all thoughts (including I am meditating) cease and one loses consciousness and goes into 'Samadhi' (super-consciousness.)
Meditation does not refer only to sitting cross legged and doing so. One should perform all actions in life thinking of God and as an offering and service to the God within, namely the Atman. While doing each and every task, the attitude should be I do nothing. I am only the instrument. The Lord is working through this body and enacting his Leela. This attitude has been described as the best for attaining speedy self-realization in the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita and aids Brahma-Gnyana (realization of the Supreme), for it helps one overcome the wrong concept of doership and kills the ego.
"O most intelligent being, pass your time in meditating upon me, glorifying me in songs, talking about me to one another and thus devoting yourself entirely to me, the Supreme."
-- Chapter 2/ Verse 46 - 'Varâha Upanishad'
"This 'Samsâra' (mundane existence which is an ocean of sorrow), is nothing but a long-lived dream, an illusion of the mind or a long-lived reign of the mind. From rising from sleep till going to bed, the one Brahman (Almighty) alone should be contemplated (meditated) upon."
-- Chapter 2/ Verse 64 - 'Varâha Upanishad'
- As told by 'Varaha Swamy' (Lord Narayana) when questioned on the means to 'Kaivalya' (self-realization) by 'Sage Ribhu' to whom the Lord appeared after 12 years of honest spiritual practice.
When a person gets established in this kind of thinking as being the tool of the Almighty, he cannot perform any wrong action, for his actions are only reflections of the will of the Almighty. He as an individual (the I-sense or Ego) does not exist, is the principle. He is neutral and desireless, all the time thinking only of God, having realized that his duty is to enact as per the commands of God. What God wills, his body performs. It leads to effortless and natural Brahmacharya when applied for long with reverance to God.
2. It is preferable to face the East or North during the initial years of practice as this lessens the impediments. These things do not matter much after many years of advancement but help initially. If the same is not possible, then one can opt for the West or Southern directions.
ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)